Author Note: Hi there. Here's some Eponine angst for ya. Enjoyyyy...
Chapter 11: The Robbery/Stoneheart's Intervention
Sootclaw stuck his head behind the bush.
"Every cat here, you know your place. Wolfclaw, Bramblethorn, Nightmask." The silver tabby tapped a dark tom behind him with his tail. "You, Boulderpelt, watch for Clan cats. With Rainsong, take care. No mistakes now, my dears."
"These mouse-brained warriors on our territory!" muttered Applefoot. "Here they come running once again. Rainsong would lick their paws, she never had a scrap of brain!"
Just then, a golden brown tabby tom padded up behind Rainsong. "Hey, Rainsong, what's up today?" he meowed. "I haven't seen you much about."
"Hi, Sparrowflight," Rainsong answered shyly. "Here you always catch me in."
"Mind no cat catches you out!" mewed Sparrowflight.
"What do you do with so much prey?" Rainsong asked her friend. "I could be a great hunter too! Don't judge a cat on how they look. I know a lot of things, I do!"
"Poor Rainsong, the things you know! You couldn't catch any prey with that."
Rainsong stroked Sparrowflight's fur with her long tail. "I like the way your fur shines," she mewed.
Sparrowflight laughed. "I like the way you always tease!"
"Little he knows…" whispered Rainsong. "Little he sees…"
Suddenly, an unfamiliar elderly tabby tom passed between them, followed by a cream she-cat.
"Here's that old warrior!" hissed Applefoot to the rogues. "Stay on the job and watch out for Stoneheart!"
"Stay out of this!" an embarrassed Rainsong meowed to Sparrowflight.
"But Rainsong…" mewed Sparrowflight.
"You'll be in trouble here, it's not your concern! You'll be in the clear!" The blue-gray she-cat pushed her tabby friend away, just as the old tabby and the cream she-cat passed by again.
"Hey, Rainsong, who is that cat?" asked Sparrowflight.
"Leave me alone!"
"Why is he here?" No sooner had Sparrowflight finished his sentence than Rainsong scurried away. "Hey, Rainsong!" yowled the golden brown tabby, speeding after the she-cat.
Suddenly, Sparrowflight collided with a young she-cat, sending them both flying. In a flash of cream and golden fur, both cats landed hard on the grass next to each other. The tabby jumped up to apologize.
"I didn't see you there," Sparrowflight mewed politely to the she-cat. "Forgive me." He stared at the she-cat, captivated, while she gazed right back at his warm amber eyes.
Meanwhile, the elderly tom was wandering off near the ThunderClan camp.
"Please, my friend, come this way!" a voice meowed. The brown tabby peered behind a bush. It was Sootclaw. "There's a kit that ain't eaten today!" continued the silver tabby. "Save a life. Spare a mouse. StarClan rewards all the good that you do."
The elder deposited a fresh mouse behind the bush and was about to leave when Sootclaw called him back.
"Wait a bit. Know that face. Ain't the world a remarkable place? Cats like me don't forget." The silver tabby bared his teeth.
"You're the furball who borrowed Barkkit!"
"Larkkit!" hissed Applefoot.
"Whatever…"
A shocked and confused expression crossed the brown tabby's worn face. "What is this?" he yowled. "Are you mad? No, no, no, you don't know what you do…"
"You know me, I know you," hissed Sootclaw. "I'm a con, just like you!"
"Everyone disappear!" cried Rainsong, dashing past Sootclaw and company. "Run for it! It's Stoneheart!"
Suddenly, all of the cats went running in all different directions.
The sound of a steady stride alerted all of the cats of Stoneheart's arrival even before they saw his pinched face.
"Another brawl in the woods," snarled the deputy, "another stink in the air. Is there a witness to this? Then let him speak to Stoneheart!"
The elder found himself trapped under Stoneheart's sharp gaze.
"The woods are not safe," continued the deputy, "but let these rogues beware! We'll see that justice is done!"
Stoneheart padded over to Sootclaw's bush, where the rogues were huddling nervously. The deputy beckoned all of them to come out, and they obeyed, though out of fear of the formidable warrior.
"Look upon this fine collection!" Stoneheart sneered sarcastically. "Crawled from underneath a bush!" The gray tabby looked at the elder. "This swarm of worms and maggots could have picked you to the bone!"
As soon as Stoneheart turned around again to face the rogues, the elder seized his chance and bolted out of the clearing with his daughter.
"Hurry, Larkheart!" he hissed under this breath, frantically jolting the young she-cat out of her reverie.
The deputy stuck his face menacingly into Sootclaw's. "I know this cat over here. I know his name and his gang. And on your witness, we'll see him suitably paid." Stoneheart whipped around, and his face suddenly changed from fierce to confused.
"But where's the elder gone and why in StarClan's name did he run?"
Suddenly, the deputy's memory lit up.
"Could it be he's some old rogue?" muttered Stoneheart quizzically. "That the moon fills full again? Heard my name and stared running...he could be that lost rogue's kin!"
The members of Sootclaw's gang glanced at each skeptically.
"And that she-cat right beside him..." wondered the deputy. "When I turned they both had gone. Could he be the cat I've hunted? Could it be he is Thrushclaw?"
Sootclaw padded gingerly up to Stoneheart and tapped the gray tabby's shoulder with his tail.
"In the absence of a victim, my dear Stoneheart, may I go?" the rogue mewed. "And remember when you've caught him, It was me who told you so...?"
"Let that old cat keep on running!" growled Stoneheart. "I will run him off his paws."
And with a single flick of his long tail, the deputy dismissed the rogues into the deep forest.
"Every cat about his business, get this rubbish out of sight!"
Author Note: About that other author note, I actually meant for you to enjoy the chapter, not Eponine's misery.
